SACS had another good year in terms of participation and spirit. There is a real love for the game amongst the boys at SACS but the challenge for everyone, players, coaches, old boys and parents, is to turn this into results on the field.
Overall the statistics do not look good:
    P       W      L          D       PF         PA        Diff    % Wins
165Â Â Â Â 52Â Â Â Â Â 113Â Â Â Â 16Â Â Â Â Â 1861Â Â 3806Â Â -1945Â Â Â 32%
This compares with: 2006 – 39%, 2007 – 34%, 2008 – 33%,
We expected the 1stXV to struggle this year given that they were a young team. We took some heat early on against Rondebosch and Paarl Gim especially, but once the younger players found their feet in the open division the results were admirable. Better SACS 1stXV’s have lost by more to Paarl Boishaai (23-16), Paul Roos (12-8) and Boland Landbou (6-0). The team showed great determination in defence this year and in the final game against Wynberg, when at times we had eleven Grade 11’s on the field, they showed enough skills on attack to believe that they can have a good season next year.
In the open division we continued to put out a record number of teams, eight when at full strength, but we lacked the quality in depth of the last two years. That is to be expected though as all schools go in cycles.
In the Under-16 division the A-team struggled but the B and C-teams scored some pleasing results. Numbers were tight down in the D-team but the spirit was good and when the boys got a chance to play they really relished it. The A-team, who really need to be at full strength to compete with top schools, were ravaged by injury and never put the same team on the field two weeks in a row. The pack worked hard under the guidance of Paul Gilomee, Dugald Robertson and Mr. Rico Lupini and they took the game to their opponents. Out wide though they struggled as long-term injuries to flyhalf Dylan Riviere and top centre Storm Winter meant they lacked incisiveness.
The Under-15 division had a good year with the C-team producing the best results in the school, only two defeats the entire season. The A-team lost only three of their sixteen games played, with notable wins against Paarl Gim and all our local Southern Suburb rivals (Rondebosch 26-15, Bishops 27-13 and Wynberg 7-5). The B-team trained hard and played good rugby but came up one or two points short on at least five occasions over the course of the season. The D-team also put their hand up and took the game to all their opponents. Even more pleasing though is the great depth we have in this age-group where we could field an E-team if required.
The Under-14 division took time to adapt to the rigours of high school rugby. The boys are keen as ever but the step up, especially against the big boys schools, proved tough. The A-team pack has size and there are skills in the backs. The coaches have worked hard on developing all aspects of the boys play and we are hopeful that as they continue to grow and mature these skills will come through and they will develop into a formidable outfit.
The A-team struggled but produced some promising results in the last two games especially where they were level going into the last ten minutes against both Bishops and Wynberg, only to see the opponents steal a last gasp win. The B-team produced some great performances. They almost snuck a win away against Paarl Gim and hammered Wynberg by 30-points in both the home and away fixtures. The C and D-team enjoyed their rugby but again need to shake off the “puppy fat” in the off-season and come back determined to do some damage in 2010!
The undoubted highlight of the year was our hosting of the Cape Schools Week. This proved to be a massive success and a great marketing exercise for the school. To cap a great week our 1stXV won two of their three games played. This included putting fifty points on Muir College and securing an exciting last minute win against Dale College.
Credit for the tournament and for the smooth running of rugby at SACS must go to the Master-in-Charge Mr. Barry van Selm, who works tirelessly for the cause. Mr. Ball is always a great support and he, along with Mr Finlayson, will plot the course for SACS Rugby to improve and perform better in the years to come.
 Graeme Wepener.
More SACS Team Reports to Follow.
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Great report ! Thank you. When all is said & done, this young side did very well if one considers that statistically they only dropped by 1% from last year & only 2% from 2007 ( which had a talent filled side ) in the results column. The results from the three big rugby schools certainly showed the pride, heart & commitment these young lads took onto the field.
Well done Mr van der Westhuizen, Graham Bentz, Matthew Mellville & your team for the pleasure you gave us Saturday after Saturday.
Congratulations to SACS rugby players, coaching staff and supporters on another season completed. A special thanks to the person behind this web site, you have done a truly remarkable and professional job. The school must do more to market the site and maybe it should be compulsory that all team selections are posted on the site before match day. On a more sober note whilst the young 1st team were competitive and showed tremendous character (no runaway losses) SACS came 15 out of the top 18 schools in the Cape. Wynberg were 3, Bishops 4 and Rondebosch 12th. The win % of the school above us, Brackenfell was 10% above the SACS win ratio. I believe that the relative poor record can not be blamed on the players or the coaches but rather on schoolboy selection process. This Matric group have been weak for 5 years, the boys that were on rugby bursaries have long since left the school and were never replaced so the age group was further depleted. Surely the school can find 15 decent rugby players starting at grade 8 each year. However it seems that we are going to have a repeat in 5 years time based on the results of this years under 14A’s. Rondebosch have a supporters club that meets once or twice a year and raises a couple of hundred tousand each year, these funds get plowed back into improving rugby, why can’t SACS do something similar on a smaller scale? Rugby unfortunately generates the most exposure in the media for the school and success breeds success. On a more positive note, Well done to the u15s who showed remarkable improvement against the Paarl schools and Paul Roos. The grade 11’s who put their body on the line this year will surely benefit from the experience and hopefully shift up a gear and should have a better season in 2010. May our talent scouts find some talent for next years grade 8’s and bolster those older age groups that need support. Best wishes for 2010!
Thanks for your comments John. Much appreciated. This being our first few months with the website, we have learned a great deal. I am sure there will be improvements on the way. Thanks for remaining a true supporter. Keep an eye out for some developments along the same lines as the Rondebosch Supporters Club. There are quite a few things happening behind the scenes as far as I know. All in all, there are a lot of people investing into the future of SACS rugby, and I am sure this will bring the benefits.